Aquaria rely on “clean” water for proper operation. In the current application, “clean” is defined as water that is low in nutrients, specifically: Inorganic Nitrate, Inorganic Phosphate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Ammonium, and metals such as Copper. These nutrients cause problems in aquariums such as excessive algae and bacteria growth, and in some cases, poisoning of livestock (copper will kill most corals.) In these instances, algae disperse in the water in an uncontrolled manner, thereby making algae removal difficult. Thus, in aquaria there is a desire to remove nutrients and associated algae from the water to maintain “clean” water. “Scrubbing” is defined to mean the removal of these nutrients, using attached macroalgal growth which is periodically harvested. An “algae scrubber” is defined to be an apparatus which grows macroalgae to perform this scrubbing function.
The past several years have seen many algae scrubbers designed and built, mostly of the “waterfall” variety. The waterfall design does filter well, but is required to be placed over a body of water, so that the waterfall can “drain down” to the body of water. This placement can become cumbersome for an aquarium or sump.